Conventionally, there have been proposed various services such as providing information to passengers on a running train. For example, a service for providing information such as news via a display device provided in a car has been practically used.
In Patent Document 1, there is described a service providing system that provides services desired by passengers on a train according to request of the passengers. That is, an in-car server and an in-car terminal connected to the in-car server, which can be operated by a passenger, are provided on a train. Passengers operate the in-car terminal to connect to a ground information providing system through the in-car server and wireless communication, thereby enabling to access service information provided by the information providing system. With this configuration, for example, Internet service, e-mail service, service of route guidance to destination, online shopping service, fare adjustment service, and ticketing service are provided according to requests of passengers. Furthermore, operations can be made not only from the in-car terminal but also from a portable terminal held by a passenger.
In Patent Document 1, a mode in which a card reader capable of reading an ID card, in which ID (personal identification number) information, ticket information, seat reservation information, electronic money information or the like are stored, is provided in a car to provide various services based on the contents of the ID card is also described. For example, when a passenger having an ID card wishes to change his destination station, the passenger can operate the in-car terminal to read the boarding station, original destination station, and card balance stored in the ID card, rewrite the original destination station to the new destination station, and adjust a balance fare by the card balance.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-222603